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Russia likely to be fined by UEFA after Euro violence in Marseille

The Russian Football Union will most likely be fined by UEFA after Russian fans attacked England fans in Marseille, a Russian minister has said. This comes after one of the worst days of football violence in decades.

Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko said the option of a fine was most likely following

"We will have a fine from [European soccer's governing body] UEFA, so I understand. We behaved incorrectly," Mutko said. Russian officials will also investigate what happened, he added, noting what he said were "many nuances."

UEFA smart after the fact

UEFA said on Sunday it had launched disciplinary proceedings against the Russian Football Union after its fans assaulted their English counterparts at the end of Saturday's match.

UEFA in a statement expressed what it called its "utter disgust for the violent clashes that occurred in the city center of Marseille and its serious concern for the incidents at the end of the match inside Stade Velodrome."

"This kind of behavior is totally unacceptable and has no place in football," UEFA said, adding that a decision on sanctions would be made within days.

A UEFA spokesman also said that security personnel would be increased at subsequent matches to segregate rival fans inside stadiums.

This after Russian fans appeared almost without resistance to breach a thin police cordon separating them from the England fans on Saturday evening.

The spokesman said higher numbers of personnel would be particularly at the higher risk matches, such as Sunday's Turkey-Croatia fixture in Paris.

Change of tune

Russian and England fans fight at the end of the match at the Stade Velodrome in Marseille

Earlier, Mutko claimed there had been "no clash...that's being exaggerated; in fact, everything is fine here."

"What problem did we have in the qualification campaign? What problems did we have? I don't remember that situation with the six points. I think you're mistaken there. I don't think there was a six-point suspended sentence."

UEFA also faces questions about the handling of security at the game over the lack of barriers separating the two supporter groups.

Social media wars roll on

The clash has also excited plenty of social media chat, with England player Jamie Vardy's wife for example tweeting:

The UK's shadow Interior Minister Andy Burnham said England fans had been "let down by a minority," who may have been provoked but were "not blameless." Burnham said that when the terror threat in France was taken into account, it made the "behavior of these England 'fans' even more embarrassing."

About 20,000 English fans travelled to Marseille, despite warnings from British ministers of a possible terrorist attack.